The area of the nation now referred to as the Old South had several distinguishing features which separated it from the rest of America. These distinctions were present from the earliest points of its history, because the colonies that were to be the foundation for the South were founded not for religious reasons like their northern cousins. They were founded, rather, to further the economic interests of their supporters. The true distinctive nature of the …showed first 75 words of 979 total…

…showed last 75 words of 979 total…there, thus causing little need for North-South interaction and made the Southern states require little from the federal government. This was further exacerbated by the fact that most federal actions which affected the South tended to do so in a negative way. All these features served to distinguish the South as its own region in the American landscape, and served to help the states become unified as a coherent group in the national political landscape.